Grainstorm Black Rye IPA | Boulevard Brewing Co.

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the root cellar, along comes Grainstorm, a big, wet wallop to the senses. In the glass, dark and turbulent clouds gather. A high-pressure system of pungent hops collides with a stationary front of barley, wheat, and rye. The forecast: a veritable monsoon of flavor, with surges of roasty malt, microbursts of hops, and a chance of golfball-sized hail. The extended outlook calls for unseasonably pleasant enjoyment.

Yes, I did indeed buy this bottle because somewhere on the label were the letters r y e. In a row. That's enough reason for me. 750 ML bottle split with my wife, best by date of 08/2013.

The pour is true to the copy, dense black. Carbonation spills out like a mushroom cloud, to the tune of a roughly 50/50 split of head & beer in the pint glass...settle down there, bucky. Nose is confused: roast, grain, earthy pine hops. Though not much of any of those. Very much like damp forest in the wilderness. I like that smell when I'm in a tent, not sure about having it in a glass.

Grainstorm, I find you difficult to describe; no ingredient or taste really stands out above the others. There's a fair amount of nice roast, backing strip of nice bittering hops with a bit of pine to them, spare earthiness that might be the rye, field grains, touch of spice. As noted, the carbonation is on the edge of too much, but the strength here is the ease which is slips from glass to tongue to stomach. To toilet. Eventually.

This beer has the privilege of being so well balanced that it almost turns invisible. It's like bland without being bland. Pretty good beer.